DUNNSTOWN — The Dunnstown Volunteer Fire Co. is financing purchase of a new fire truck, relieving the township of any direct financial risk.
The supervisors this week said the situation has been negotiated whereby the fire company will go it alone on a loan, but use money from the township fire tax to pay for the vehicle, starting with a $100,000 down payment.
And supervisors and firefighters agree volunteer fire companies face limited fundraising capacity, especially amid the pandemic, along with a lack of volunteer firefighters.
The low-interest loan is being obtained through the Volunteer Loan Assistance Program of the state of Pennsylvania.
To its credit, Coleman said, “the fire company took its own loan. The township has no involvement with the financing. The fire company will come to the township each year and, through a letter, will request fire tax funding to make the loan payment. But the township is not legally liable for the payments.”
The price of the truck was estimated at $850,000, but that cost has fluctuated and the price is now just below $820,000.
The fire tax, meanwhile, is estimated to bring in $138,000 annually, leaving the supervisors the option of reducing the tax in the future because the estimated annual payment might be somewhere around $65,000, they said.
“The real issue is, the fire company needs help. We can buy fancy trucks and stuff but it doesn’t matter if they can’t drive it out of the garage. If they don’t have the help and support that is needed to operate, that is a real problem. Hopefully going forward, we can focus our attention on helping them recruit,” said Coleman.
Chairman Wayne Love said emphatically that Dunnstown Fire Co. has been unfairly treated in the last two years by some people as it and fire companies across the region struggle with sustaining manpower.
Love also clarified that Woodward is not the only municipality in Clinton County to have a fire tax, saying both Pine Creek and Dunnstable have such a levy.
Supervisors agreed if they had gone through the purchase six to eight years ago, the township could have imposed either a third of a mill or quarter of a mill tax increase and built up a fund to buy the truck.
“Like everything else, when you are playing catch up, it does not work,” said Love.
“The bad thing of it is, and I am going to state this and I don’t care if people get mad or not: Most of the bashing of the fire company is coming from outside of this community, in fact all of it. I haven’t figured it out exactly why that is — whether it is because an offer wasn’t taken or what the problem is. In all reality, our township people have been real supportive. There have been questions asked, but they don’t attack. They come and ask questions — honest questions,” Love added.
The only document the township signed is a letter of commitment for the downpayment.
That letter does not state anything about the township being responsible for the annual loan payment, supervisors said.
Coleman urged his fellow supervisors to review finances in 2022 and consider lowering the fire tax, especially with times being tough for many.
The supervisors noted the township was initially going to co-sign for a loan for the truck and that’s when it was determined the township had no borrowing capacity since it dissolved the sanitary sewer authority and absorbed its debt. That matter has and is being rectified, they’ve said.
“I honestly can’t think of a better scenario for this township to be involved with a purchase like this. One way or another, this township is going to have to front money whether it is for the truck or if they (Dunnstown) close their doors — and we have to stop that from happening — we’d have to pay somebody to provide fire service to us,” Coleman said.
It is basically the same handful of people in the fire company running the station and responding to emergencies “and we can’t let them burn out,” Coleman said.
Long-time fire company volunteer Mike Fetzer said a main issue is the company’s inability to conduct and have enough large fundraisers to be able to purchase new apparatus without municipal support.
“We can’t belly up to pay for aging apparatus without support,” said Fetzer, currently the company president and deputy chief.
The price of the truck will go up 5% to 10% next year, he’s been told, but Dunnstown has locked in a lower price and will sign the contract tonight and then settle the financing after the first of the year.
The first loan payment is due in May, he said, so the company will ask supervisors for the money in February.
Meanwhile, Fetzer said the lack of volunteer firefighters is a national crisis, noting the country has gone from 300,000 volunteers not that long ago to just 30,000.
